Shiv Sena Now Claims It’s In Touch With Congress, NCP MLAs: Here’s The Latest In Maharashtra’s Political Circus 

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has sensationally claimed that his party is in touch with MLAs from its rival parties like the Congress and NCP, DNA India has reported. This statement is said to have been in response to the BJP’s claim of having secured support of all independent MLAs.

This has raised questions whether the Shiv Sena is attempting to get the Congress and NCP MLAs to rebel and join its ranks, or if its part of the rhetoric being peddled by the party.

Also, Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena on Thursday (31 October) elected senior leader Eknath Shinde as their legislative head in the Maharashtra state assembly and Sunil Prabhu was approved as the Chief Whip party.

Incidentally, the party also announced that it would meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to “appraise him of the situation”.

While this meeting with the Governor may be considered by many as a ploy to mount pressure on the BJP, the Shiv Sena appears to be playing many games all at once.

A Belligerent Ally Flexing Its Muscles

The Maharashtra election results dealt a strong hand to the Shiv Sena, which despite winner lower seats than 2014, is convinced that it will have a bigger role to play in the Maharashtra politics.

The BJP with 105 seats needs 40 more seats to secure a majority and has so far managed to secure the support of 15 independents.

The Shiv Sena in this scenario considers itself indispensable to the BJP and is demanding the Chief Ministerial seat for the period of 2.5 years. Uddhav Thackeray’s party has claimed that this formula was agreed to before inking the coalition pact.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis though has asserted that his party has made no 50-50 sharing promise to the Shiv Sena and reiterated that he will remain the CM for the full duration of the government.

This statement by Fadnavis was not well received by the Shiv Sena leadership and Uddhav Thackeray cancelled a meeting between the two parties which was called to discuss government formation.

Amit Shah’s Entry And Shiv Sena’s Gamble

Amidst a stalemate between the BJP and Shiv Sena party president Amit Shah decided to step in to defuse tensions between the two allies. Reports have claimed that he and Uddhav Thackeray would have a meeting to finalise a power sharing arrangement.

While the logjam continued with the BJP, the Shiv Sena also appeared to be playing a different game altogether.

Soon after the election results when it became clear that the BJP won’t be relenting on the Chief Ministerial position, Uddhav Thackeray claimed that his party has “other options” before it.

These other options have been touted as joining hands with the Congress and NCP to keep BJP out of power. This scenario though was quickly put to rest by the Congress and the NCP which asserted that under no circumstances would they be supporting Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena Relents, Then Denies It

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut who has been leading the charge against the BJP, showed major signs of relenting when he was quoted as saying that it is necessary for his party to remain in alliance with the BJP in the larger interest of the state.

Raut also made statements, “Personal power is not important, the state is important” and refused to directly speak about the 50-50 power sharing formula. To top it off, rumours were also flying around that some Shiv Sena MLAs were in contact with the BJP.

This led to an intense speculation that it was only a matter of time before Shiv Sena relented, having already perceived to have softened its stance. It was also reported that the BJP was ready to offer 13 ministries to Shiv Sena, but will keep major ministries with itself.

On today afternoon though Raut took an u-turn to deny any “softening of stance” on part of the Shiv Sena. He additionally dismissed claims of Shiv Sena inking a compromise with the BJP. Raut also scoffed at the rumours of Shiv Sena MLAs being in touch with the BJP.